Second round of compensation approved in air cargo price fixing action

Ontario and British Columbia provincial courts have approved settlements in the Canadian Air Cargo price-fixing class action.

The class action relates to an alleged global conspiracy to fix prices of airfreight shipping services.

The class action affects anyone who purchased airfreight shipping services, including through freight forwarders or from any air cargo carrier, for shipments within, to, or from Canada during the period from January 1, 2000, to September 11, 2006

Settlements totalling $16 million have been reached with British Airways and Air Canada. The settled defendants did not admit any wrongdoing or liability.

Previous settlements, totalling approximately $29.6 million, were reached with twelve groups of defendants. The settlement funds were distributed to qualifying Settlement Class Members in January 2019. This brings total settlements reached in this action to over $45 million.

The action is now resolved.

Law firms Siskinds of London, Ontario, Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman of Vancouver, B.C. and Liebman Légal Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, represented the class members and announced court approval of a protocol for the second distribution of  funds.

“This litigation raised complex factual and legal issues,” said Linda Visser of Siskinds.

“As part of this litigation, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the Ontario court has jurisdiction to certify an international class. Leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied. This was an important ruling that paves the way for other international classes in appropriate circumstances,.”

“Price-fixing conspiracies result in businesses and consumers paying artificially inflated prices for goods and services. Class actions help to return those inflated prices to victims of such conspiracies,” said David Jones of Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman.

The defendants in the case are:

Anyone who purchased airfreight shipping services to or from Canada (excluding shipments to or from the United States) between January 2000 and September 2006 are eligible to claim settlement benefits. This includes airfreight cargo shipping services in which the freight:

1. travelled by truck from Canada to the United States, and then by air from the United States to a third country on a through airway bill;
2. travelled by air from a third country to the United States, and then by truck from the United States to Canada on a through airway bill; or
3. the shipping arrangement was made with an integrated air cargo shipper, but the freight was shipped on an air cargo carrier (not on the integrated shipper’s own aircraft), including any of the Defendants in the litigation.

Claims can be filed online at www.aircargosettlement2.com on or before July 4, 2022.